Value-Based Goal Setting: The Values-First Framework

Value-based goal setting is the practice of choosing goals that map directly onto your top personal values, rather than goals you adopted from peers, parents, or imagined-future-self pressure. The Values-First Framework runs three steps: (1) name your top 5 values using Schwartz’s universal values circle [1], (2) score each candidate goal for alignment with those values, (3) cut anything that scores low. The point is durability. Goals anchored in a value you actually hold survive setbacks; goals borrowed from outside collapse the first time the road gets steep.

How Value-Based Goal Setting Changes Achievement

Most people set targets based on external expectations. The result is predictable: goals lose their grip within weeks because they were never connected to anything the person actually cared about. Research on self-concordance shows that goals pursued for autonomous, value-aligned reasons produce stronger sustained effort and higher well-being than goals pursued for introjected or external reasons [2].

When you build a personal values framework first, you establish an internal compass that guides decisions even during challenging times. This approach starts with who you are, not just what you want to accomplish. The Values-First Framework treats values as the upstream filter for every goal that follows.

I have noticed a recurring pattern in coaching conversations: people chase achievements that look impressive but leave them feeling empty. Managers pursue promotions that bring stress without satisfaction. Creative professionals take on projects for money alone, then wonder why they feel drained. Parents build careers that conflict with their family priorities. Aligning your goals with your values changes the math.

True success requires goals that reflect your authentic self. A sense of purpose shapes well-being and helps build resilience by giving your actions meaning [3]. Let us explore how to create this alignment and build achievements that feel genuinely rewarding.

What You Will Learn

• How to define a personal values framework using Schwartz’s 10 universal values
• Methods to identify your core values through structured reflection
• How to translate values into concrete objectives using the Values-First Framework
• A step-by-step guide to aligning your goals with your values
• How to use the SMARTER goal framework for actionable plans
• Strategies to resolve conflicts between competing goals
• Reflection techniques to maintain value alignment
• When values-first goal setting falls short and what to do instead

Key Takeaways

• Goals aligned with personal values create stronger internal motivation [2]
• Core values act as your decision-making compass even during challenges
• The SMARTER framework adds excitement and reward to traditional goal structures
• Regular reflection prevents drift between your values and objectives
• Value conflicts require specific resolution strategies, not permanent compromises
• Values-based goal setting supports ongoing personal growth and resilience
• Schwartz’s 10 universal values give you a vocabulary to name what you actually hold

The Values-First Goal Framework

The Values-First Framework is the method we teach in the Goals and Progress workbook. It has three steps.

Step 1: Name your top 5 values using Schwartz’s universal values circle [1]. Step 2: For every candidate goal, score it 1-10 on how directly it expresses one of those five values. Step 3: Cut any candidate that scores below 7. The remaining list is what you actually work on.

Worked example. A reader contacted us in early 2025 with a list of 11 goals. Five of them scored below 7 against her named values. We cut those five. Six months later she had finished three of the remaining six, including a half-marathon that mapped to her stated value of stimulation and a career pivot that mapped to self-direction. The five cut goals had been on her list for over two years without progress. They were not lazy goals. They were the wrong goals for her.

Schwartz’s 10 Universal Values

Shalom Schwartz’s 1992 cross-cultural study identified 10 universal value types that show up across 20 countries [1]. Use this list as the starting vocabulary when naming your own top values. You do not need to invent values from scratch.

Value	What it means	Personal-context example
Self-direction	Independent thought, choosing your own path	Choosing freelance over a corporate ladder
Stimulation	Novelty, challenge, excitement	Signing up for a marathon you have never run
Hedonism	Pleasure, enjoyment, sensory gratification	Protecting a weekly cooking ritual
Achievement	Personal success through competence	Earning a credential you have wanted for years
Power	Status, prestige, control over people or resources	Building a team you lead
Security	Safety, stability, order	Six-month emergency fund as a non-negotiable
Conformity	Restraint, respect for social norms	Honoring an extended-family obligation
Tradition	Respect for cultural or religious customs	Keeping a weekly faith practice
Benevolence	Welfare of close others (family, friends)	Weekly phone calls with aging parents
Universalism	Welfare of all people and nature	Recurring donations to a cause you researched

Schwartz arranged these values in a circle because some are compatible (achievement and power often co-occur) and others are in tension (self-direction and conformity pull in opposite directions). Your top 5 will likely cluster in one part of the circle. Tensions between your top 5 are not a problem to fix. They are a map of the trade-offs your life actually contains.

What Is a Personal Values Framework?

A personal values framework serves as your internal guidance system for making decisions. Unlike fleeting motivation that changes with circumstances, values remain stable across situations and provide consistent direction. Identifying your own values ensures that your actions and goals align with what truly matters, offering a reliable foundation for decision-making.

Values act as a compass, helping you determine right from wrong during difficult choices. Setting an intention can serve as a guiding principle alongside specific goals, helping you stay true to your values and maintain focus on your desired mindset.

The Difference Between Values and Traditional Motivation

Traditional motivation fluctuates based on external factors like rewards, recognition, or avoiding negative consequences. This is why many productivity systems collapse within weeks of starting them.

Values, by contrast, represent core beliefs about what matters most to you. They affect attitudes, preferences, and behaviors, and they determine right from wrong during difficult choices. Intentions, in this context, represent the attitude behind your actions and are distinct from specific, measurable goals. They focus on your overall approach rather than fixed outcomes.

Sheldon and Elliot’s self-concordance research shows that goals pursued for value-aligned reasons produce both stronger sustained effort and higher well-being than goals pursued to meet external expectations [2].

Consider this comparison:

Motivation-Based Goals	Value-Based Goals
Change with external circumstances	Remain stable across situations
Need constant reinforcement	Self-reinforcing through meaning
Focus mainly on end results	Honor both process and outcome
Often abandoned when difficult	Provide purpose during challenges
Based on “shoulds” and expectations	Reflect authentic personal priorities

Why Values Create Stronger Achievement Foundations

Values establish your purpose and vision for the future. They provide the “why” behind your goals, creating a foundation for lasting achievement and helping maintain focus during inevitable setbacks.

When goals align with values, they become more than targets. They turn into expressions of who you are. Ensuring your goals are relevant to your values increases motivation and makes them more effective in guiding your actions [2]. This alignment fosters greater resilience and a sense of purpose.

For creative professionals, this might mean pursuing projects that align with self-direction or universalism rather than simply chasing profitable opportunities. For parents balancing careers with family life, it means making career choices that honor benevolence toward children and partner. Intentionally choosing how you spend time to reflect your core values is essential to fulfillment.

Research on Value-Based Goal Success Rates

Research consistently shows that value-based goals outperform those disconnected from personal values:

• Sheldon and Elliot’s self-concordance model demonstrated that goals pursued for autonomous, identified reasons produced sustained effort and longitudinal well-being gains, while goals pursued for introjected or external reasons faded [2]
• Locke and Latham’s 35-year goal-setting research review confirms that goal commitment, which is reliably stronger when the goal is personally meaningful, is one of the strongest moderators of goal attainment [4]
• Steger and Dik’s work on meaningful work shows that pursuing work goals connected to personal values is associated with greater engagement, lower burnout, and stronger organizational outcomes [3]

Setting values-based goals gives you insight about yourself and lets you consistently act on what matters. A structured goal-setting process that connects your values and goals leads to better results by ensuring ongoing relevance and motivation. This is exactly what the Goals and Progress workbook guides you through across its Goal Setting and Habit Tracking phases.

How to Identify Your Core Values

Identifying your core values requires intentional self-reflection and honesty. These values act as the foundation for creating meaningful goals that truly resonate with who you are.

Reflection Exercises That Reveal Hidden Values

The most effective way to discover your authentic values is through structured reflection exercises. These bypass surface-level thinking to reveal what genuinely matters to you.

Try the “happiest moments” reflection:

1. Identify 3-5 times when you felt truly happy, proud, and fulfilled
2. For each experience, ask yourself:
   • What specifically were you doing?
   • Who were you with, if anyone?
   • What need or desire was being fulfilled?
   • Why was this experience meaningful to you?

Another effective approach examines life’s contrasts. Consider situations when you felt frustrated or disappointed. These negative experiences often highlight values being compromised. For instance, feeling irritated about being interrupted in meetings might reveal that you value self-direction or achievement.

For people doing knowledge work, reflecting on career high points can be particularly revealing. Think about projects where you felt most engaged and the specific aspects that energized you. Map those aspects back to Schwartz’s 10 values [1].

Journal Prompts to Clarify What Matters Most

Journaling creates a structured space for deeper self-discovery about your values. As you write, patterns and themes naturally emerge that point toward your core values.

Try these focused prompts:

1. Future self visualization: Write about your ideal life five years from now in present tense, as if you are already living it. Note what elements appear most prominently.
2. Heroes analysis: Describe people you deeply admire. What specific qualities do they embody that resonate with you?
3. Disaster scenario: If you needed to evacuate your home immediately, what would you save first after ensuring people and pets were safe? This reveals what you truly value.
4. Value conflicts: Describe a recent disagreement. What principles were you defending? Values often hide in the space between you and what you disagree with.
5. More/less exercise: Draw a line down a page. On one side, write what you want more of in your life. On the other, what you want less of. This simple exercise often clearly reveals your values.

For professionals balancing career and family, the more/less exercise proves particularly illuminating. One useful outcome is realizing you want more presence and fewer distractions across both domains, which often maps to benevolence and self-direction.

Techniques to Narrow Down to Your Top 5 Values

After completing reflection exercises and journaling, you will likely have identified numerous values. The next step is narrowing them down to your most essential ones.

First, group similar values together. For example, you might group “kindness,” “compassion,” and “empathy” under benevolence. Aim for no more than five groupings that represent distinct aspects of what matters to you.

Next, prioritize these groupings by comparing them directly. Ask: “If I could satisfy only one of these values, which would I choose?” This forces clarity about what truly matters most.

A helpful technique is the Values Priority Test. When two values seem to conflict, imagine a concrete situation where you must choose between them. For instance, if both “career advancement” (achievement, power) and “family time” (benevolence) appear on your list, consider which you would choose if offered a promotion requiring extensive travel.

Finally, verify your selected values by asking:

• Do these values make you feel good about yourself?
• Would you feel comfortable sharing these values with people you respect?
• Do these values feel authentically yours rather than externally imposed?

Your core values may evolve over time. Schedule regular check-ins (perhaps quarterly) to reassess whether your top values still resonate as your circumstances change. The Goals and Progress workbook builds quarterly value reviews directly into its Goal Setting phase. You can learn more about self-discovery techniques in our guide on self-discovery for personal planning.

Ramon’s Take: Cutting Three Goals That Did Not Belong

Most goals on most lists were inherited, not chosen. Peers, parents, imagined-future-self pressure. You cannot tell which goals are yours until you have named what you actually value.

What the Current SERP Misses

In a January 2026 audit of the top 10 SERP results for “value based goal setting,” 8 of 10 reduce values clarification to a strengths quiz or a generic 50-word values list with no theoretical grounding. None reference Schwartz’s universal values circle [1]. Only 2 of 10 cite Sheldon and Elliot’s self-concordance research [2]. The gap that this article fills: a named framework, an academic spine, and a worked example.

Connect Values to Clear Objectives

Once you have identified your core values, the next step is turning them into practical objectives that guide your actions. By breaking down your values into smaller, actionable steps, you can create a values-based goal that is both achievable and aligned with your core beliefs. This translation process bridges the gap between abstract principles and concrete results.

Using the Values-Goals Alignment Matrix

The Values-Goals Alignment Matrix is a tool that evaluates potential goals based on how well they align with your personal values framework. This 2×2 matrix plots goals on two dimensions: value alignment and practical impact.

Here is a simple template you can use:

Value Alignment	High Impact	Low Impact
High Alignment	Priority Goals	Secondary Goals
Low Alignment	Reconsider Goals	Avoid Goals

Goals in the “High Alignment, High Impact” quadrant deserve your primary focus and resources. These objectives simultaneously honor your values while creating significant positive change. Goals in the “High Alignment, Low Impact” category might be worth pursuing if resources allow, but should not be prioritized over high-impact alternatives.

To use this matrix effectively:

1. List your potential goals
2. Score each goal (1-10) on value alignment
3. Score each goal (1-10) on potential impact
4. Plot them on the matrix
5. Prioritize accordingly

This approach prevents the common mistake of pursuing goals that feel important but do not reflect what matters to you. You can learn more about prioritization techniques in our guide on most important tasks.

Examples Across Personal Contexts

Translating values into concrete objectives requires asking “why is this important to me?” for every goal you consider. This question filters out inauthentic goals driven by external pressure.

Consider these examples, mapped to Schwartz’s 10 values [1]:

For someone whose top value is self-direction:

• Vague value: “I value independence”
• Translated goal: “I will earn enough freelance income in the next 12 months to reduce my reliance on a single employer to under 60% of household income”

For someone whose top value is benevolence (care for close others):

• Vague value: “Family matters most”
• Translated goal: “I will hold a device-free family dinner three nights per week and one full Sunday afternoon of family activity, tracked weekly”

For someone whose top value is achievement:

• Vague value: “I want to be good at what I do”
• Translated goal: “I will pass my professional certification exam by November 2026 by completing 6 hours of study per week and 3 full practice exams”

For someone whose top value is stimulation:

• Vague value: “I need challenge”
• Translated goal: “I will run my first half-marathon within 9 months, following a 4-day-per-week training plan starting Monday”

How to Spot and Fix Misaligned Goals

Vague goals lack specificity, measurability, and clear direction. They create confusion about what success looks like. Consider these contrasts:

Vague goal: “I want to be more productive.” Clear goal: “I will complete my three highest-priority tasks before noon each workday.”

Vague goal: “I want to earn more money.” Clear goal: “I will increase my monthly income by $1,000 through freelance writing within six months.”

Beyond vagueness, misalignment between goals and values creates more serious problems. Pursuing goals inconsistent with your values undermines well-being and sustainability [2]. Even when achieved, misaligned goals rarely deliver lasting satisfaction.

Common mistakes that create misalignment include:

• Setting goals based on others’ expectations rather than personal values
• Focusing exclusively on end results while ignoring the process
• Pursuing too many goals simultaneously, diluting focus on what truly matters
• Neglecting to regularly review goals against your evolving values

The most effective approach combines the clarity of the SMART goal framework with value alignment. This integration ensures your objectives are both practically achievable and personally meaningful.

Value-based goal setting is not just about what you achieve. It is equally about who you become through the process of pursuit.

Make Goals Actionable with the SMARTER Framework

After establishing clear objectives based on your values, the next phase involves making those goals actionable. The SMARTER framework provides a structured approach for turning your value-based goals into achievable results. This methodology builds upon the traditional SMART approach by adding two elements that aim to increase your likelihood of success.

Breaking Down Each SMARTER Component

The SMARTER framework expands the classic SMART model by adding two critical components that align well with value-based goal setting:

Component	Description	Value Connection
Specific	Clearly defines what you want to accomplish	Translates abstract values into concrete actions
Measurable	Includes quantifiable metrics to track progress	Provides objective feedback on value alignment
Achievable	Ensures goals are realistic within your capabilities	Prevents value disconnection through frustration
Realistic	Confirms alignment with available resources	Grounds values in practical reality
Time-bound	Establishes clear deadlines	Creates accountability to your values
Exciting	Generates enthusiasm and energy	Connects to emotional aspects of your values
Rewarding	Provides meaningful satisfaction	Reinforces value-based motivation

The final two elements transform mechanical objectives into meaningful goals that maintain their connection to your personal values framework. Goals without emotional connection often falter despite being technically sound [2].

For more on different goal frameworks, check our comparison of SMART vs OKR vs FAST goal frameworks.

Sample SMARTER Goals for Various Values

Here is how someone with self-direction as a top value might apply this framework to a freelance career pivot:

• Specific: Build a freelance writing client base of 4 retainer clients
• Measurable: 4 contracts signed, each at $1,500/month minimum
• Achievable: Allocate 10 hours per week to pitching and portfolio work
• Realistic: Use existing portfolio, no new credentialing required
• Time-bound: All 4 contracts signed by end of Q3
• Exciting: Topics I choose, on my schedule
• Rewarding: Reduces dependence on single employer, expresses self-direction

For someone with benevolence as a top value, focused on family connection alongside career:

• Specific: Hold a device-free family dinner three nights per week
• Measurable: 3 dinners per week, tracked in weekly review
• Achievable: Block calendar by 6pm on those days
• Realistic: Communicate boundary to direct reports in writing
• Time-bound: Start this Monday, review after 8 weeks
• Exciting: Stronger relationship with partner and children
• Rewarding: Directly expresses benevolence value

The SMARTER framework is particularly useful when setting new year’s resolutions at the start of the new year. By grounding your resolutions in personal values rather than external expectations, you create more meaningful and sustainable goals. This transforms traditional new year’s resolutions into intentional commitments that reflect what truly matters to you.

Common Mistakes When Applying SMARTER

Several pitfalls can undermine even well-constructed SMARTER goals.

First, excessive focus on specificity can create tunnel vision. Locke and Latham’s 35-year review notes that overemphasizing narrow goal specificity can lead people to neglect important but unmeasured aspects of their work [4]. This undermines overall performance and disconnects actions from values.

Setting unrealistic goals remains a prevalent mistake. Ambition drives progress, but overestimating what can be achieved frequently leads to demoralization and burnout. This outcome ultimately weakens the connection between your goals and values.

Another common error involves neglecting the “Exciting” and “Rewarding” components. Goals that look perfect on paper but lack emotional connection rarely maintain momentum. Meaningful progress toward something that matters is one of the strongest motivators for sustained action [3].

Occasionally, people fail to balance short-term targets with long-term aspirations. The most effective SMARTER goals serve as waypoints toward an inspiring destination aligned with your values, not as endpoints themselves.

To maximize your success with value-based goal setting, regularly evaluate and revise your SMARTER goals as circumstances change. This flexibility ensures your objectives remain connected to your evolving values while maintaining practical achievability.

Strategies to Handle Competing Value-Based Goals

Even with a clear personal values framework, you will face situations where two important value-based goals seem to pull you in opposite directions. Schwartz’s universal values circle [1] explicitly identifies oppositions: self-direction often tensions against conformity, achievement often tensions against benevolence. Value conflicts arise when you must choose between alternatives justified by values that feel incompatible.

Early Warning Signs of Value Conflicts

Recognizing value conflicts before they escalate requires attentiveness to specific signals:

1. Emotional ambivalence: Feeling simultaneous pride and guilt about a decision often indicates competing values at play.
2. Justification difficulty: When you struggle to explain your rationale for a decision, it typically signals an underlying value conflict.
3. Role conflict: Experiencing different priorities depending on which role you are occupying points to competing values.
4. Physical signs: Pay attention to stress responses like tension headaches or sleep disruption when contemplating certain goals.

These signals serve as early warning systems, allowing you to address value conflicts proactively.

Decision-Making Frameworks for Resolving Tensions

When value-based goals conflict, several approaches can help resolve the tension:

Approach	Best Used When	Limitation
Compromise	Both values matter moderately	Neither value fully satisfied
Collaboration	Both values extremely important	Requires more time and creativity
Time-bounding	Temporary flexibility needed	Cannot be sustained long-term
Symbolic concessions	Breaking an impasse	May feel like betraying a value

The most successful approach is seeking integrative solutions through creative problem-solving. For example, if self-direction and security conflict in your career planning, you might keep your employment income stable for 12 months while building a freelance pipeline on the side, then re-evaluate after the first $2,000 month of freelance income arrives.

Time-bounding decisions lets you revisit choices after a set period. This prevents feeling permanently trapped by a difficult compromise.

Case Study: Career Growth vs. Family Time

The tension between career advancement (achievement, power) and family commitments (benevolence) represents one of the most common value conflicts professionals face. The conflict is real because Schwartz’s circle places these values in genuine tension [1].

Consider this practical approach:

1. Set clear boundaries: Designate specific work hours and protect family time from interruptions.
2. Communicate needs at work: Be transparent with employers about your family commitments. This reduces pressure to overextend.
3. Accept imperfection: Understand that perfect balance rarely exists. Some days lean more toward work, others toward family.
4. Address face-to-face: When conflicts arise, handle them directly through conversation rather than email or memos.

This might mean declining a project that would require missing important family events. Or it could involve negotiating a flexible work arrangement that allows attending children’s activities without compromising professional commitments.

Resolving value conflicts is not about choosing one value permanently over another. It is about finding integrative solutions that honor both values simultaneously whenever possible.

When Values-First Goal Setting Falls Short

The Values-First Framework is not the right tool for every situation. Three cases where it explicitly fails.

Acute Crisis

When you need the fastest possible action (a medical emergency, a financial cliff, a deadline measured in hours), values-clarification is the wrong loop. The right loop is rapid, expert-driven, low-deliberation action. Run the values audit afterward, when the crisis has passed.

Inherited Contexts

Sometimes you do not have a choice. A family member needs care. A medical condition demands a specific protocol. A legal obligation comes with a non-negotiable deadline. In these contexts, values clarification is theater. You execute, and you save the values work for the choices you actually control.

Exploration Phase

If you genuinely do not know your values yet (early career, after a major life rupture, after long-term immersion in a context that masked them), values-first goal setting cannot give you the answer. You need exposure first. Try things. Notice what energizes you and what drains you. The values become visible through contact with the world, not through a worksheet in advance.

Outside these three cases, values-first goal setting is the right starting move.

Maintain Value Alignment Through Regular Reflection

Regular reflection is the cornerstone of maintaining alignment between your values and goals over time. This ongoing practice prevents drift and ensures your objectives remain connected to what truly matters to you. The Goals and Progress workbook builds this into its Habit Tracking phase with weekly and quarterly review templates.

Weekly and Monthly Check-In Questions

Consistent check-ins function as powerful tools for maintaining goal alignment. A weekly check-in should assess progress while monthly reviews evaluate broader patterns. Consider these essential questions:

• How am I feeling about my progress toward my goals?
• What steps have I taken toward my goals recently?
• What small wins should I celebrate?
• What obstacles have I encountered?
• Are there adjustments needed to improve progress?

Using Journaling to Strengthen Value Connections

Journaling creates a structured space for reflection that strengthens your connection to value-based goals. Set aside dedicated time each week to journal about your progress. This practice helps you identify patterns, celebrate achievements, and adjust your approach when needed.

Feedback loops further enhance alignment by providing regular information about your progress. They represent the basic mechanism for learning and growth, allowing you to evaluate progress toward goals and course-correct accordingly. Effective feedback loops collect information quickly and provide context for measuring progress.

For a more structured approach to personal reflection, see our guide on the power of journaling for self-reflection.

How to Adjust Goals Without Losing Direction

Maintaining alignment requires flexibility. Rigidly sticking to narrow goals that feel increasingly wrong makes your journey unnecessarily difficult. Instead, focus on direction rather than fixed destinations. This approach makes it easier to manage daily advances than the sudden leaps implied by traditional goal-setting.

Review your progress frequently, asking:

• What has happened since your last review?
• What have you learned about your values and goals?
• What still feels right about your direction?
• What needs to change to better align with your values?

This approach allows for adjustments without losing sight of your core direction. You can track your progress using our guide on how to track progress for personal goals, and the Goals and Progress workbook Habit Tracking phase walks you through quarterly value-and-goal review.

Frequently Asked Questions

Conclusion

Value-based goal setting transforms how we approach achievement by creating a durable foundation for lasting success. Throughout this article, we have seen how the Values-First Framework, anchored in Schwartz’s universal values circle [1] and Sheldon and Elliot’s self-concordance research [2], produces deeper motivation that persists through challenges.

The journey begins with honest self-reflection to identify your core values using techniques like journaling and the happiest-moments exercise. Once these values become clear, the Values-Goals Alignment Matrix serves as your compass, ensuring every objective you pursue actually maps to one of your top 5 values.

SMARTER goals take this alignment further by adding excitement and reward to the traditional SMART framework. This transforms mechanical objectives into meaningful pursuits that maintain their connection to your personal values.

Strategies for resolving value conflicts allow you to navigate inevitable tensions between important goals. Rather than choosing one value permanently over another, you can find integrative solutions that honor multiple values simultaneously.

Regular reflection is the cornerstone of maintaining this alignment over time. Weekly check-ins, journaling, and feedback loops prevent drift and ensure your goals remain connected to your evolving values.

Value-based goal setting creates a virtuous cycle. Goals aligned with values provide deeper satisfaction, which reinforces those values, which then strengthens your commitment to meaningful goals. The result is achievement that feels genuinely fulfilling rather than merely accomplished.

Revisit your current goals through the lens of your core values. Ask honestly: “Do these objectives truly reflect what matters most to me?” Your answer might reveal why certain goals feel energizing while others feel like obligations. Goals that align with your authentic values do not just change what you achieve. They transform who you become through the process of pursuit. For a complete worked path, the Goals and Progress workbook walks you through the Values-First framework end to end across 29 pages and 4 phases.

References

1. Schwartz, S. H. (1992). Universals in the Content and Structure of Values: Theoretical Advances and Empirical Tests in 20 Countries. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 25, 1-65. DOI: 10.1016/S0065-2601(08)60281-6
2. Sheldon, K. M., & Elliot, A. J. (1999). Goal striving, need satisfaction, and longitudinal well-being: The self-concordance model. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 76(3), 482-497. DOI: 10.1037/0022-3514.76.3.482
3. Steger, M. F., & Dik, B. J. (2009). Work as Meaning: Individual and Organizational Benefits of Engaging in Meaningful Work. In Oxford Handbook of Positive Psychology and Work. DOI: 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780195335446.013.0011
4. Locke, E. A., & Latham, G. P. (2002). Building a practically useful theory of goal setting and task motivation: A 35-year odyssey. American Psychologist, 57(9), 705-717. DOI: 10.1037/0003-066X.57.9.705